1 Ube4c1.*Iid~igan 0aiIjj ()"'vI lit Nih I) ~~'N N (' IIN S 1 1 1,N I{N Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, October 3, 2011 michigandailycom STATE BUDGET State assessing new measures for allocating higher ed..funds MARISSA MCCLAIN/daily Members of the Michigan football team celebrate with the Brown Jug. The Wolverines opened Big Ten play with a 58-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. It wasn't traditional, but it was a nearly awless Big Ten beatdown ichigan's three cap- tains and fifth-year senior defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen, the leader of the stingy Michigan defense, rushed across the field toward the student section, holding STEPHEN J. the Little NESBITT Brown Jug in the air. Those seniors holding the Jug had carried the weight of a 6-18 Big Ten record the past three seasons. It was the first Big Ten game of Michigan's new regime - the coaching trifec- ta of head coach Brady Hoke, offensive coordinator Al Borg- es and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison. And they put on quite the opening act. The newcomers spared the pleasantries and imposed their will on Minnesota on Saturday, trouncing the Gophers, 58-0. If it were the early 1900s, when Fielding Yost prowled the sidelines with his menac- ing glare, the Gophers would have pleaded with the Wolver- ines to end this game early. But Michigan had some- thing to prove. The goal wasn't to pick on Minnesota, the conference's basement-dweller and its freshman quarterback, but to remind the Big Ten that Mich- igan is still Michigan. The offense's greeting for the Gophers was 58 points. The defense pitched a shutout. Michigan is an unbeaten 5-0 again. But this team isn't the same as last season. Hoke, Borges and Mattison did exactly what Rich Rodri- guez couldn't - they relent- lessly pounded an inferior Big Ten foe. Hoke, Mattison and Borges can and will do what it takes to win in the Big Ten. Al Borges has brought a new flavor to Michigan. on the second play of the game, backup quarterback Devin Gardner settled under center. Behind him was a dia- mond set with three running backs. Gardner took the snap, turned and handed the ball to Denard Robinson, bolting left to right along the line of See NESBITT, Page SA After FY 2012 cuts, gov't mulling ways to dole out college funding for 2013 By ANDREW SCHULMAN Daily Staff Reporter State budget cuts to higher edu- cation funding for the 2012 fiscal year - which started Saturday - have forced public universities across the state to close depart- ments, lay off employees and raise tuition. But among University officials, there is hope that the funding cuts - the largest in Michigan's his- tory - could also prompt the gov- ernment to reform distribution of the state's appropriations among its 15 public institutions. The reductions, which were originally part of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's proposed state budget for the 2012 fiscal year, decreased funding for higher edu- cation by $225 million - playing a factor in the University's decision to raise tuition to cover a $47.5 million shortage. After the reduced state funding left the University with the $47.5 million shortfall, the University's Board of Regents voted in June to raise tuition for in-state and out-of-state students. The rate of increase was 6.7 percent for in- state students and 4.9 percent for non-residents. In the aftermath of this year's cuts, however, the state has See ALLOCATIONS, Page 3A GRADUATE EMPLOYEES \ Deans share opposition to GSRA unionization 18 deans write letter to provost expressing views against union By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN Daily News Editor University officials have previously expressed in public their concern about the Univer- sity's recent move to grant grad- uate student research assistants the right to union. And recently, the majority of deans have also shared their opinions to Univer- sity Provost Philip Hanlon in a private letter. In the letter, which was acquired by the Mackinac Cen- ter for Public Policy, current and former deans from 18 of the University's 19 schools and col- leges shared their reservations about the possible unionization to Hanlon. The deans wrote that while they respect the deci- sion of the University's Board of Regents to allow GSRAs to have collective bargaining rights, unionization would "put at risk the excellence" of the Univer- sity. "We note that graduate stu- dent research assistants are not unionized at the peer institu- tions against whom the Univer- sity competes for faculty and graduate students ..." the deans wrote. "We worry that a GSRA union would make Michigan an See GSRA, Page 5A UNIVERSITY CONSTRUCTION Delayed Dennison update to change classrooms into 'U' institute offices ZACH BERGSON/Daily Physicists gather at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill. to commemorate the closing of the 28-year- old Tevatron particle accelerator on Friday. 'U' physicists say farewell to Tevatron particle accelerator Future renovations part of plan to use academic space more efficiently By JENNIFER LEE Daily Staff Reporter Students running late for class in the David M. Dennison building might no longer have to worry about sprinting up six flights of stairs. With planned renovations in the next few years, Denni- son's classrooms will be trans- formed into academic centers and University institute offices. The renovations, which were originally supposed to start this year, are part of the University's plan to use its academic spaces more efficiently. University officials have dis- cussed renovating the Dennison building since 2009, when plans to renovate the fourth floor of the building were announced by former University Provost Teresa Sullivan. The project was delayed and never imple- mented. Last fall, University Provost Philip Hanlon spoke of plans to renovate the sixth floor of the building and to move the Graham Environmental Sus- tainability Institute and the See DENNISON, Page SA 28-year-old collider closed due to federal funding cut By ZACH BERGSON Daily StaffReporter BATAVIA, Ill. - University physicist Myron Campbell was one ofhundreds of scientists who watched a close friend of almost 28 years get put to rest on Friday. The companion was the Teva- tron particle accelerator, located at the Fermi National Accelera- tor Laboratory in this Chicago suburb and the victim of a famil- iar culprit - budget cuts. In January, the U.S. Department of Energy denied a $100 million funding request that would have allowed the particle accelera- tor to continue operating for an additional three years. The accelerator used super- conducting magnets to propel protons at speeds close to the See TEVATRON, Page 3A ZACH BERGSON/Oaiiy A machine that collects anti-protons for the Tevatron particle accerlator. WEATHER HI:70 TOMORROW LO: 49 GOT A NEWS TIP? NEW ON MICHIGANDAILYCOM Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail Merrill suspended for 12 games news@michigandaily.com and let us know. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE GAME INDEX AP NEWS...................3A ARTS......................6A Vol. CXXII, No. 20 OPINION.....................4A FASHION VOYEUR.......BA 2 l The Michigan Daily NEWS ........................5A SPORTSMONDAY..........1B michigondoiiycom