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ONE-H -HINDREI WENTY-TWO YEARS OF E TOH \L FE )
Friday, October 14, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
FEEDING TIME
BOARD OF REGENTS
Finances,
returns at
'U' grow in
2011 report
SSA junior Taylor Franz and LSA sophomore Zoe Parsigian feed a squirrel near the Diag yesterday.
STATE BUDGET
Mich. Fi~m Ofice faces cuts,
new incentiestm fo 2012
Endowment
reaches all-time
high at $7.8 billion
By KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Daily Staff Reporter
FLINT - The University's
endowment has reached its high-
est amount
ever at nearly NOTEBOOK
$8 billion,
according to the University's
2011 financial report released
yesterday.
At its monthly meeting here
yesterday, the University's
Board of Regents discussed the
University's financial health,
renovations to Yost Ice Arena,
improvements to campus build-
ings and Winter Commencement
honorary degree recipients.
As of June 30, the University's
endowment was valued at $7.8'
billion, according to the report
released at the meeting. The Uni-
versity has also seen a high rate
of investment returns at 24.3
percent from investments made
with endowment funds. At the
same time last year, the endow-
ment was worth $6.6 billion.
Timothy Slottow, the Univer-
sity's executive vice president
and chief financial officer,wrote
in the financial report that the
investment rate is one of the
highest among universities.
"As a result of their dedication
in building on our strong founda-
tion and tradition of excellence,
we continue to have the resourc-
es to make strategic investments
in the facilities, programs and
people that make our institution
one of the best public research
universities in the world," Slot-
tow wrote in the report.
Over the last decade, the
University has overstepped
the customary benchmark for
investment returns by approxi-
mately 3 percent, White said.
She also mentioned that the hard
work of the University's invest-
ment office, led by the Univer-
sity's Chief Investment Officer
Erik Lundberg, has paid off in
the 2011 fiscal year.
In an interview after the
meeting, Lundberg said the
endowment is instrumental to
the University's operation, and
he anticipates further growth
in the future through increased
gifts and smart investing.
Lundberg said he is excited
about the establishment of the
University's new initiative, the
Michigan Investment in New
See FINANCES, Page 6
Office's budget
I reduced by $90M
this year
By HALEY GLATTHORN
Daily Staff Reporter
A tighter budget and a maze
of red tape might keep celeb-
rity-stalkers on campus from
encountering their favorite
movie stars on the streets of
Ann Arbor.
The budget of the Michigan
Film Office, the state's distrib-
utor of film tax incentives, was
slashed to $25 million for the
2012 fiscal year - down from
$115 million in fiscal year 2010.
The reductions were included
in Republican Gov. Rick Sny-
der's budget, which was passed
by the state House and Senate
and took effect Oct 1.
The new incentive system
will grant a film a set amount
of money based on the Film
Office's criteria, which evalu-
ates the number of jobs the film
would create and the percent-
age of the production filmed
in Michigan, among other fac-
tors. Under the old percentage-
based system, films could be
awarded up to 42 percent of
their total operating costs.
Ryan Kazmirzack, a spokes-
man for Snyder, said the admin-'
istration sought to establish a
grant-based system because
the potential cost of some films
under the percentage-based
system made budgeting the
program too volatile.
"If the film industry did $1
billion worth of business in
Michigan, then the taxpayers
would have to come up with
$420 million to write them
a check," Kazmirzack said.
"(This) meant the more suc-
cessful we were as a state, the
more it was going to cost tax-
payers. It was impossible to
budget for because (we did not)
know how much it was going to
cost."
See FILM, Page 6
UNIVERSITY ACADEMICS
Sophomore Initiative helps
students explore 'U' majors
In class challenge,
students had $4.30
per day to buy food
By RAYZA GOLDSMITH
Daily Staff Reporter
For two days, 71 University
students ate off $4.30 per day.
But their spending wasn't
limited because of financial
need. They took on the eat-
ing challenge for a Univer-
sity class called "Twenty Two
Ways to Think About Food"
- a course offered under the
pilot program Sophomore Ini-
tiative - to experience what it
was like to live off the average
monetary allotment for people
receiving food stamps.
The Sophomore Initiative
was started this fall as a way
to increase programming for
sophomores as they make their
way through the in-between
stages of college, according to
Philip Deloria, LSA associate
dean of undergraduate educa-
tion and one of the creators of
the program. Deloria, who also
teaches "Twenty Two Ways to
Think About Food," said sopho-
mores have outgrown freshman
seminars, and have not neces-
sarily chosen their concentra-
See SOPHOMORE, Page 6
STUDENT START-UPS
Clean Energy Venture Challenge
seeks eco-friendly business ideas
Le Dog employee Jennifer Smith posts the daily special soups at Le Dog on East Liberty Street on Wednesday. One of
the most popular items is the restaurant's lobster bisque
Le Dog owner draws crowds with
300 varieties of famous soup
$100,000 to be
divided among
winning groups
By STEVE ZOSKI
For the Daily
On a campus where environ-
mental sustainability has been
put at the forefront, student
entrepreneurs are trying their
hand at green solutions.
Dozens of University stu-
dents are competing in the
Michigan Clean Energy Ven-
ture Challenge, in which stu-
dent teams from Michigan
universities and colleges create
an environmentally friendly
business. The competition -
which began in September and
is now underway for the fourth
year - has changed the elimi-
nation process from previous
years and increased the compe-
tition by adding twice as many
teams.
Half the students who enter
the competition - previously
known as the Green Energy
Prize - are University of
Michigan students, according
to Amy Klinke, assistant direc-
See CHALLENGE, Page 3
Lunch time hoping to secure their favorite
bowl of soup.
favorite opened in Despite its select mid-day
hours Monday through Friday,
city 32 years ago the restaurant - Le Dog - has
had Ann Arbor locals flocking
By CHELSEA LANDRY to the East Liberty Street loca-
Daily StaffReporter tion lunch the past 32 years.
Le Dog owner Jules Van
At lunchtime on any given Dyck-Dobos said he knew he
weekday, a crowd of people wanted to pursue a career
lines up in front of a vibrant in the culinary arts from a
red 200 square-foot restaurant young age and was inspired
CONTINUING SERIES:
BEHIND THE BUSINESS
by his grandmother's cooking
in .Hungary. After Van Dyck-
Dobos's family relocated to the
United States and eventually
settled in Ann Arbor, he decid-
ed to attend Michigan State
University to pursue a culinary
See LE DOG, Page 3
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