The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 3, 2011- 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, October 3, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Detroit Science
Center may stay
closed past Oct.
A poor economy and resources
spent on questionable past proj-
ects could keep the doors of the
Detroit Science Center and a chil-
dren's museum closed longer than
anticipated.
Both venues in Detroit's
resurging Midtown section
closed Sept. 26 due to a shortage
of operating capital.
Officials have set Oct. 12 as the
date they will reopen, but some
fear the financial troubles that
forced their abrupt shutdowns
could keep both shuttered past
the middle of the month.
"The term I like to use is a cash
crisis," said Shelly Otenbaker,
who has been a Science Center
trustee for just over a year.
SAN LEANDRO, Calif.
3 dead, 3 wounded
in shooting at
warehouse party
Three people were killed and
three others wounded when at
least two gunmen opened fire as
people left a party at warehouse
early yesterday, authorities said.
The gunmen started shooting
as a group of people walked out of
the building around 1:20 a.m., San
Leandro police Sgt. DougCalgano
said.
Three people were pro-
nounced dead at the scene. Police
did not know the condition of
the three wounded people. The
names of victims have not been
released.
At least 100 people attended
the party, which had been adver-
tised on the Internet, Calgano
said. He was not aware of a permit
being issued for the party, which
would have been required for a
gathering of that size.
WASHINGTON
Cain responds to
backlash following
GOP debate
Republican presidential candi-
date Herman Cain said yesterday
that he should not have stayed
silent after the audience at a GOP
debate booed a gay soldier serving
in Iraq.
The Georgia businessman told
ABC's "This Week" that it would
have been "appropriate" for him
to have defended the soldier.
None of the candidates on stage
at the Sept. 22 forum responded
to the boos.
"In retrospect, because of the
controversy it has created and
because of the different interpre-
tations that it could have had, yes,
that probably - that would have
been appropriate," Cain said,
when asked if he should have
asked the audience to respect the
soldier.
Cain said it wasn't immediately
clear to him what had drawn the
audience's scorn, adding, "I hap-
pen to think that maybe they were
booing the whole 'don't ask, don't
tell' repeal more so than booing
that soldier."
ALGIERS, Algeria
Algeria floods kill
10, damage homes
Authorities in Algeria say tor-
rential downpours have killed
at least 10 people and ruined
hundreds of homes. A mother
and her infant daughter are also
missing.
The country's meteorologi-
cal service had warned about
strong thunderstorms across
the country from Saturday into
yesterday.
The civil protection author-
ity said in a statement that yes-
terday it recovered eight bodies
from one town, El Bayadh, 435
miles (700 kilometers) south-
west of the capital. Rescuers are
still looking for a woman and
her 9-month-old baby there.
Two other bodies were found
in towns to the north of El Bay-
adh.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
TODD NEEDLE/Daili
Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley opened its second ReStore on Jackson Road on Saturday.
Habitat for Hu-manity
o 2
opens second store inA
Huron Valley
chapter celebrates
fifth anniversary
of first ReStore
By JOSEPH GUERRA
For the Daily
With its first resource
store on the brink of its fifth-
year anniversary, Habitat for
Humanity of Huron Valley has
a second store ready to help
families build and furnish their
homes.
While promoting its motto
"A hand up, not a handout," the
organization celebrated the
opening of the new ReStore on
Jackson Road in Ann Arbor on
Saturday. ReStores collect and
re-sell building materials, fur-
niture and household items to
the public at a fraction of the
original cost. The stores also
function to raise awareness
about the work of the organiza-
tion.
ALLOCATIONS
From Page 1A
reconsidered a model for dis-
tributing allocations based on
performance metrics such as
graduation and freshmen reten-
tion rates, according to Cynthia
Wilbanks, the University's vice
president for government rela-
tions.
The possibility of using per-
formance metrics as a basis for
doling out state funding comes
as Snyder's and state universi-
ties' budget and planning offices
begin to map out their 2013 fis-
cal year budgets. Discussions
between the state and universi-
ties are already underway and
are expected to continue as Sny-
der prepares to unveil his state
budget blueprint at the start of
2012, Wilbanks said.
A provision calling for the
state to examine university per-
formances was also a part of
Snyder's fiscal year 2011 budget,
according to Wilbanks. The pro-
vision has sparked what Wil-
banks called the "most serious
discussion (on the metrics)" that
she's seen in-years.
"I think the budget office and
legislators are all thinking about
how that might work for fiscal
year'13 funding," she said.
But for the fiscal year 2012
budget, it was too soon to deter-
mine the logistics of the metrics
and the breadth of opposition
and support for their use, Wil-
banks said. She added that she
thought the performance met-
rics should be accounted for.
"There is a clear expectation
that universities must play a role
in the state's economic revital-
ization, and I hope that is rec-
ognized in some way," Wilbanks
said. "Each institution has an
Habitat for Humanity, which
works on improving housing
internationally, was founded
in 1976 and established its
first ReStore in 1991. All pro-
ceeds from the Huron Valley
ReStores are put toward the
construction and renovation of
affordable housing in Washt-
enaw County.
Sarah Stanton, executive
director of the Habitat for
Humanity of Huron Valley,
said the organization operates
as "a contractor, a realtor and a
bank, all in one" for the fami-
lies it assists.
"We buy a property, work
to improve it, help the family
move in and hold a zero-inter-
est mortgage for them," Stan-
ton said.
The Huron Valley branch
has worked on more than 100
houses in the Washtenaw
County area since its found-
ing in 1989. The Habitat for
Humanity volunteers put in
upwards of 2,000 volunteer
hours per house, according to
Stanton.
enormous impact in the commu-
nity they serve and beyond, and
of course the talentcthey produce
has economic benefit as well."
In addition to raising tuition
across the board at the state's
public universities, the reduc-
tions in the fiscal year 2012
state budget had varying influ-
ences on the institutions' bud-
gets. Due to the state funding
cuts, the University closed the
Center for Ethics in Public Life
and has begun offering fewer
small classes. However, The
University's Office of Admis-
sions has remained need-blind,
when reviewing applications,
and financial aid is at an all-time
high at $137 million.
Michael Boulus, executive
director of the President's Coun-
cil, State Universities of Michi-
gan, said Michigan's public
universities have adapted well to
a decade-long trend in statewide
cuts to higher education fund-
ing.
"We've been managing to
maintain high quality despite
state cuts due to efficient deci-
sions at the University level,"
Boulus said.
He added that rising enroll-
ment rates statewide have been
an encouraging sign. At the Uni-
versity, the number of enrolled
students reached its highest last
year at 41,924 students in fall
2010. This was due to the largest
freshman class of 6,496 students
to date. Enrollment figures for
the 2011-2012 academic year will
be released this month. How-
ever, as of June, 6,540 incoming
freshmen submitted enrollment
deposits to the University.
Boulus said he doesn't fore-
see the increasing enrollment
trend at state universities con-
tinuing amid ongoing cuts to
higher education. This year's
Vic Whipple, a longtime
Habitat for Humanity volun-
teer who oversees the Huron
Valley ReStores, said the orga-
nization is always on the look-
out for new volunteers to aid its
mission to help local families.
"I really, really enjoy work-
ing with Habitat for Human-
ity because ... of the ultimate
cause, which is to eliminate
low-income housing and help-
ing people get into affordable
housing," Whipple said.
The opening of the second
ReStore occurred two days
before World Habitat Day-a
commemorative day designed
to give visibility to affordable
housing worldwide. Represen-
tatives from the Huron Valley
chapter said they are proud to
work for an organization that
strives to promote the day's
purpose year-round.
"(World Habitat Day) means
a lot. It brings a whole glob-
al perspective to right here,
locally, in Washtenaw County,"
Whipple said. "And it reflects a
whole global attitude as well."
statewide decrease in funding
of $827 per student is part of a
series of cuts that has dropped
per-student funding by $2,312
since 2001.
At public universities
throughout the state, the reduc-
tion in funds for fiscal year 2012
and those over the last decade
have resulted in a mix of cost-
cutting measures. Leigh Greden,
executive director of govern-
ment and community relations
at Eastern Michigan University,
said EMU raised tuition by 3.6
percent for the 2012 fiscal year.
This past year, EMU also laid off
more than 50 employees.
Greden said EMU is "tryingto
buck the trend of rising tuition,"
and did so successfully last
year by not increasing tuition
and room and board. This year,
though, EMU had to up tuition
by 3.6 percent due to an $11 mil-
lion drop in state funding for the
university and rising health care
and energy costs.
"We're being squeezed by
falling state aid and increasing
expenses," Greden said. "When
you see an $11 million reduction
in state aid ... that had a signifi-
cant impact on us and on every
university in Michigan."
At Michigan State Univer-
sity and Wayne State University,
tuition will be increased by 6.9
percent for in-state undergradu-
ate students. In-state undergrad-
uates at Wayne State will face a
3.5-percent tuition increase.
Boulus said the future of
Michigan's public universities is
in jeopardy if the trend in state
cuts to higher education contin-
ues.
"It's difficult to see how such
high-quality institutions can be
maintained if the governor and
the Legislature continue to cut
state support," Boulus said.
TEVATRON
From PagelA
speed of light and is notable for
discovering the top quark - a
crucial component of physical
matter - and aiding in the devel-
opment of Magnetic Resonance
Imaging technology. Before its
closure, there were about 2,300
scientists working at the Teva-
tron, and University of Michigan
scientists like Campbell have
been one of the most represented
groups of physicists working on
the project over the years.
Campbell, currently the asso-
ciate dean for natural sciences
and a professor of physics at the
University, started working at the
Tevatron in the early 1980s while
doing postdoctoral work at the
University of Chicago. Campbell
said his early work was primarily
focused on building electronics
that would record the collisions
between protons and anti-pro-
tons in the Tevatron, which was
officially launched on Oct. 13,
1983 when Campbell himself
turned the machine on for the
first time.
Campbell said the Collision
Detector at Fermilab only record-
ed 24 collisions in the Tevatron
when it was first turned on 28
years ago. As of Friday, there were
more than 10 million recorded
collisions per second.
Campbell's experiments at
Fermilab focused on developing
pattern recognition technologies
that mimic human neuron net-
works. Campbell said this tech-
nology can now be found in many
gadgets we use today.
"Almost any kind of pattern
recognition algorithms now uses
neuron-network algorithms like
cameras that can recognize faces
that use these algorithms," he
said.
In 1995, Campbell and his team
of Michigan physicists contribut-
ed to what is arguably the Teva-
tron's greatest accomplishment
- the discovery of the top quark.
This subatomic particle had elud-
ed particle physicists around the
world for years and was the final
element to be discovered of the
standard model - a popular the-
ory of particle physics.
Campbell said this was by far
the fondest memory he has of
working with the collider.
"It was great to be there for
the moment when someone says
'eureka,' "he said.
Monica Tecchio, a research
scientist in the University's
Department of Physics, started
working with Campbell at Fer-
milab shortly after the discovery
of the top quark in 1995. Tecchio
said her initial work included
upgrading the electronics of the
Tevatron, but after a few years
shifted to analysis of top quark
data to confirm its existence.
Between 1995 and 1999, Tec-
chio regularly commuted to Fer-
milab by plane and recalled one
particularly busy time when she
was traveling to Illinois once a
week for an entire year. Tecchio
said she and Campbell would race
to see who could get to Fermilab
the fastest.
"We had an openbet who could
commute from home to Fermilab
in the shortest time," Tecchio
said. "I think he won. He made
it down there once in less than
three hours but just because he
had a taxi driver bring him to the
airport. I had to drive myself. We
would brag about how many fre-
quent flyer miles we had."
After spending years research-
ing at Fermilab, Tecchio and
Campbell moved on to other
experiments around the world.
Campbell spent a few years work-
ing on the Large Hadron Collider
in Switzerland and then transi-
tioned to the Japan Proton Accel-
erator Research Complex. A few
years ago, Campbell recruited
Tecchio to join him at J-PARC.
Though Tecchio and Camp-
bell have spent many years away
from Fermilab, they each said
they believe they could be work-
ing there again soon with the
announcement of the lab's new
experiment - Project X.
According to Campbell, Proj-
ect X is a particle collider that
focuses on high-intensity colli-
sions rather than the high-ener-
gy collisions that the Tevatron
worked on. Project .X would be
based around two experiments
that Campbell is currently study-
ing in Japan.
Tecchio said she hopes to work
on Project X for professional and
practical reasons.
"It would be a great match for
me not only because it's closer
to home, but also because I've
already gained so much experi-
ence in that field of physics," she
said.
However, before scientists at
Fermilab can start building the
detectors and devices for Proj-
ect X, the experiment must be
approved and funded by Con-
gress. Despite the funding cut to
the Tevatron, Piermaria Oddone,
the laboratory director of Fermi-
lab, said he is confident funding
for Project X will be approved
because he believes other coun-
tries will donate money to make
the project more affordable.
"We're hoping the world will
help us build it ... If they do, the
(American) agencies won't be
able to say no," he said in a press
conference at Fermilab on Friday.
But even if Project X is
approved, Tecchio said the shut-
down of the Tevatron will leave
a large void in American high-
energy particle physics.
"Eventually if no. new (high-
energy) colliders experiments are
started in the United States, there
will naturally be a shrink in the
number of people working in par-
ticle physics," she said.
Many American particle physi-
cists have already switched to
astrophysics due to a decrease in
funding for high-energy accelera-
tors in the United States, accord-
ing to Tecchio.
"Astrophysics nowadays feels a
lot like what high-energy physics
felt like 30 years ago .." she said.
" The same kind of convergence
of theoretical understanding and
technical detectors that hap-
pened in particle physics 30 years
ago is now happening in astro-
physics."
Though many are hopeful
Project X will move forward,.
emotions were running high on
Friday among the hundreds of
physicists who worked on the
Tevatron. A number of research-
ers began crying in the moments
leadingup to its shutdown.
However, Campbell said he has
mixed emotions about the shut-
down of the collider.
"When an experiment has run
its course and served its purpose,
it's time to shut it down and move
on," he said. "There is a tinge of
sadness,butthere's also asenseof
moving on."
The main reason why the Teva-
tron is closing is because better
opportunities for high-energy
particle research exist elsewhere
now, Campbell said.
Oddone acknowledged tha
in the wake of the closure, there
will be a decrease in the nearly
2,300 scientists researching at
Fermilab. However, if Project
X is approved, the experiments
involving fundamental particles
like neutrinos - tiny particles
that were recently measured as
traveling faster than the speed of
light - would restore the amount
of research to Tevatron-era lev-
els.
"We're going to be the pre-
miere lab for studying rare pro-
cesses," Oddone said.
,.
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