The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 5A
Faculty body praises
U' financial health
SACUA discusses the University's chief invest-
ment officer and the manager
this year's of the endowment fund. Barald
said Lundberg has been a "sav-
endowment growth ing grace" during the ongoing
economic crisis, and state budget
By MARY HANNAHAN cuts. The state cut $47.5 million in
Daily Staff Reporter funding to the University for the
current academic year.
The lead faculty governing In 2010, the University's
body praised the University's endowment ranked seventh
financial team for increasing the among public and private univer-
size of the school's endowment, sities in the country, falling just
at its weekly meeting yesterday. below Stanford University and
While many universities the Massachusetts Institute of
around the country lost 40 to Technology, which were $13.85
60 percent of the value of their billion and $8.32 billion, respec-
endowments over the past few tively.
years, the University of Michi- In an interview after the meet-
gan's endowment grew by 24.3 ing, Barald said the endowment's
percent this past year from $6.6 growth indicates that the Uni-
billion to $7.8 billion. versity of Michigan is one of the
Kate Barald, chair ofthe Senate best-funded public universities
Advisory Committee on Univer- in the country. Last year, only the
sity Affairs, credited the endow- University of Texas system had a
ment's growth to Erik Lundberg, higher endowment.
"We're more financially sound
thanks to our investment strate-
gythanmost public universities,"
Barald said. "We're in better
shape is the basic bottom line."
Barald said she believes the
University's endowment will
continue to grow.
"I expect that once we're over
this big financial downturn that
started in 2008 ... we'll probably
continue to rise," Barald said.
However, Timothy Slottow,
the University's executive vice
president and chief financial
officer, said in a recent inter-
view that it is hard to predict
what shape the endowment will
take in future years. Despite the
uncertainty, the University's
2011 financial report shows posi-
tive outcomes. In addition to the
endowment growth, the Univer-
sity had high returns on invest-
ments in venture capital and
private equity.
CANTOR
From Page 1A
in U.S. history, social mobility
has been possible but depends
on the willingness of the disad-
vantaged to sacrifice in order to
achieve the American dream.
Their values of ingenuity, hard
work and risk taking - on
which the country was found-
ed - should determine how far
Americans could advance up and
down the socioeconomic ladder,
he said.
"Instead of talking about
their fair share or spending time
trying to push those at the top
down, elected leaders in Wash-
ington should be trying to ensure
that everyone has a fair shot and
the opportunity to earn success
up the ladder," Cantor said. "The
goal shouldn't be to meet in the
middle of the ladder. We should
want all people to move up and
no one to be pulled down."
As part of rendering that
opportunity universally acces-
sible, Cantor praised small busi-
nesses as important job creators
for the economy.
"Small businessmen and
women are the key formula
for success and opportunity in
America," Cantor said. "They
may employ just a few people,
but each one of these individu-
als is able to start building a
better life for their families just
because one person took a risk."
In light of this summer's
debt ceiling debate that pushed
the federal government within
hours of defaulting on its debt,
Cantor also discussed partisan
gridlock within Washington.
In his speech yesterday, Can-
tor expressed hope that Republi-
cans and Democrats are capable
of finding some kind of a middle
ground on issues like the fed-
eral debt. But in an exclusive
interview with The Michigan
Daily after his speech, Cantor
said Obama and Congressional
Democrats have not cooperated
in attempting to solve the issues.
"Our side, as Republicans, we
said, 'Let's fix the problems. Let
just do it,' "Cantor said. "And we
put outa budget that was excori-
ated by the other side ... At least
we put out a plan. We are asking
for the president to counter that
proposition. Never has he done
(that) or anyone in his party."
Cantor added in the interview
that the decision to cut some
student loan programs as part of
the deficit deal - a decision he
advocated for but Obama pushed
back against - was not a pri-
mary concern since loans aren't
solving the larger problem of the
high cost of attending college.
"The underlying issue is that
higher education is too expen-
sive," Cantor said. "We've got
to figure out ways to reduce the
cost."
Mixed responses followed
Cantor's speech, which was
attended by 250 people, includ-
ing University President Mary
Sue Coleman, Public Policy
School Dean Susan Collins,
state Rep. Mark Ouimet (R-Scio
Township.) and City Council
member Stephen Rapundalo (D-
Ward 2).
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily after the speech,
Coleman said she appreci-
ated Cantor coming to cam-
pus, regardless of the views he
expressed or the negative reac-
tion of some on campus.
"I thought it was a very good
opportunity for him to come,
and really talk to the University
community about his vision and
how he sees the issues of the
country and what he sees as the
solutions," Coleman said.
Business School junior Max
Heller said he enjoyed the
speech because of the stakes col-
lege students have in the topics
Cantor discussed.
"The speech was especially
relevant to members of our
generation because it was con-
cerning the topics of economic
opportunity, and for ... college
students such as ourselves, those
are important things to pay
attention to," Heller said.
In an interview after the
event, Ouimet said he valued the
presence of a Republican voice at
the University.
"It is always wonderful to get
different perspectives brought
to the University," he said.
Ouimet added that he sympa-
thizes with Cantor's position on
political gridlock, with funding
reductions at the federal and
state levels undercuttinguniver-
sity budgets.
"There isn't the resources that
there once were, so it's a contin-
ual balancing act on how do we
put all of this together," Ouimet
said. "And it's notan easy path ...
to success."
But others said they were less
enthused with the content of
the speech. LSA senior Amanda
Caldwell, chair of the Univer-
sity's chapter of College Demo-
crats, said Cantor stressed the
problems the country is facing
without offering any concrete
solutions.
"In theory, he was talking
about something I think every-
one should get behind, which
is leveling the playing field,"
Caldwell said. "But then, in
practice, he really wasn't putting
forth anything substantive that
would do so."
-Daily News Editor
Joseph Lichterman
contributed to this report.
GORDON
From Page 1A
as MSA president. Shirvell was
also temporarily banned from
campus last fall after he report-
edly stalked Armstrong.
Shirvell was fired from his
position last year for lying dur-
ing a disciplinary conference,
using his resources in the attor-
ney general's office for non-work
related purposes and "harassing
conduct," then-Michigan Attor-
ney General Mike Cox wrote in a
statement at the time.
Shirvell said he believes that
Gordon knew Michael Ondejko,
the attorney general investiga-
tor on Shirvell's case, when he
still held his position with the
state. Shirvell claims that Gor-
don deliberately gave informa-
tion to Ondejko about Shirvell's
previous experience in a case
regarding a Michigan State Uni-
versity student.
"Ms. Gordon used her prior
relationship with the investiga-
tor Mike Ondejko to basically ...
get me fired," Shirvell said.
Gordon represented a former
MSU journalism director who
had dismissed a student Shirvell
also spoke out against, according
to Shirvell. Gordon, however,
said the claim is false. Though
she knew Ondejko from when he
served as a witness in a previous
case, she said she never engaged
in conversation with him about
Shirvell or the investigation he
was conducting.
"I never spoke to Mike Onde-
jko about Andrew Shirvell, at
any time," Gordon said. "I never'
spoke to anybodyfromthe attor-
ney general's office. None of that
ever happened - that's made
up."
Shirvell said Gordon's state-
ment that she never spoke to
Ondejko is a lie, and he believes
as his lawsuit continues, that
the lie will be revealed. Shirvell,
who will represent himself in
court, said he intends to receive
money from Gordon to compen-
sate for the economic damage he
has experienced since losing his
job. He estimates the compensa-
tion will be in the range of six to
seven figures.
Shirvell, who is currently
unemployed and living in New
York, said he believes Arm-
strong and Gordon have "tried
to destroy him in any way pos-
sible." Shirvell said he hopes to
tell his side of the story and fight
for his own justice by filing this
lawsuit.
"The one thing that they
can't take away from me is
my dignity," Shirvell said. "I
didn't commit wrong here. The
wrongdoers here are Deborah
Gordon and Chris Armstrong,
and their impact on my life in
the past year has been substan-
tial."
Gordon said the lawsuit
Shirvell filed against her will
not affect her representation of
Armstrong in his case against
Shirvell. Last week, the judge
presiding over Armstrong v.
Shirvell denied Shirvell's motion
to dismiss the claims against
him and advised Shirvell to seek
legal counsel as he was "too
emotional about the case."
Gordon added that she isn't
concerned about the lawsuit
against her, and she doesn't
feel neither she nor Armstrong
is responsible for the damages
Shirvell experienced.
"(Shirvell) is by far his own
worst enemy," Gordon said. "He
has created nothing but prob-
lems for himself. He lied about
Chris Armstrong, and he appar-
ently lied to the attorney gen-
eral, and he lost his job. Now,
the Attorney Grievance Com-
mission is considering taking
his law license away, and none
of that is his fault, according to
him."
Gordon said she will ask the
judge to order Shirvell to appear
for the second day of deposition
this Thursday. Even with the
new lawsuit, Gordon said Arm-
strong's case against Shirvell is
proceedingstrongly.
"All we ever wanted was for
him to retract the statements he
made about Chris, which were
such blatant lies, but he won't,"
Gordon said. "We have to set the
record straight, so we're going
to continue to pursue the suit
against him."
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From Page 1A
Though the University
already has Counseling and
Psychological Services to help
students who face mental health
issues, MSA wanted to create
an intermediary between CAPS
and students. This is the role
the six-person mental health
commission will fill to ensure
resources are easily accessible
for students, Campbell said.
"While the University does
a tremendous job in CAPS, we
want to make sure that there
is communication between the
administrators and students,"
he said.
CAPS Director Todd Sevig
said he has talked to commis-
sion members about ways the
two organizations can work
together.
"The goal continues to be get-
ting the word out in multiple
and creative ways about mental
health resources on campus,"
Sevig said. "And the second focus
area is increasing students' abil-
ity to use the resources."
LSA senior David Catalan,
chair of the new MSA sub-
committee, said he joined the
Health Issues Commission spe-
cifically to advocate for mental
health issues awareness. The
commission aims to help stu-
dents understand the gravity of
mental health issues including
eating disorders, depression,
suicide, self-injury and bipolar
disorder.
"Our goal is to put the stigma
off that is usually associated
with having a mental illness,"
Catalan said.
To promote awareness of
these issues, the commission is
planning a variety of programs
around campus and hopes to
organize leisure and relaxation
activities - like bringing ther-
apy dogs to campus - to help
students during exam weeks,
according to Catalan.
"Last year was a hit when
(the dogs) came to the (Shapiro
Undergraduate Library), but this
year we hope to bring more pub-
licity to the event and expand to
North Campus," he said.
The commission is also in the
beginning stages of bringing
mental health first aid certifica-
tion to the University, Catalan
said. The 12-hour long program
trains people to recognize men-
tal health crises ahead of time.
These emergencies include sui-
cide, psychosis and self-injury.
"We want to open this training
to anyone that wants it," Catalan
said. "But we want to specifically
focus on training at least a few
RAs in the residence halls."
The commission is also try-
ing to collaborate with stu-
dent groups such as the mental
health-focused blog Vitality
Press and the University Law
School organization Active
Minds. Catalan started Vitality
Press this summer as a personal
project but decided to make it
a student organization to gain
more support.
LSA sophomore Abby Pilar-
ski, a second blogger for Vitality
Press, said she was inspired to
join Catalan in his efforts after
seeing a family member's strug-
gle with mental illness.
"I think it is a very impor-
tant topic to talk about, but also
to help people understand that
they are able to talk about it,"
Pilarski said. "I think people get
really scared tovoice their opin-
ions on depression and mental
health because people have such
a stigma about it."
The sub-commission mem-
bers are also interested in work-
ing with Active Minds, which
organizes an exhibit each year
to promote mental health aware-
ness. In the exhibit, students
place thousands of backpacks
around campus to illustrate the
number of college students who
commit suicide each year.
The International Association
of Counseling Services found in
a 2008 study that 95 percent of
surveyed directors of college
psychological counseling offices
saw an increase in psychological
issues among students. Another
2008 study by the National Col-
lege Health Association found
that depression diagnoses
increased for surveyed students
from 10 to 15 percent from the
years 2000 to 2008.
Catalan said he hopes the
sub-commission's efforts will
encourage students to begin a
more comprehensive dialogue
about mental health issues.
"I think we will have a big
impact, and it's just about right
now getting the ball rolling to
start a lot of our programming
and initiatives and accumulat-
ing the necessary resources,"
Catalan said. "But if anything,
we just really want to start dis-
cussion on campus because it's
something that really affects
everybody even though nobody
really wants to talk about it."
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