The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, December 9, 2011 -- 3 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, December 9, 2D11 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS LANSING, Mich. Michigan House may eliminate 44 state judgeships The Michigan House is approving bills that would allow elimination of 44 judgeships in Michigan through attrition. The reduced judge count would come in district and circuit courts in many areas of the state. The House was beginning votes on the multiple-bill package yesterday. Bills were passing by varying margins, depending on the area of the state affected. The measures advance to the Senate. The bills come after recom- mendations made earlier this year by the State Court Adminis- trative Office. That report also suggested eliminating four positions on the Michigan Court of Appeals that by law is now allowed to have 28 judges. Republican lawmakers so far have advanced bills that would continue with28 positions. MONTGOMERY, Ala. Lawmakers call for immigration legislation changes Alabama Republicans who pushed through the nation's toughest law against illegal immigrants are having second thouglts amid a backlash from big business, fueled by the embar- rassing traffic stops of two for- eign employees tied to the state's prized Honda and Mercedes plants. The Republican attorney gen- eral is calling for some of the strictest parts of it to be repealed. Some Republican lawmak- ers say they now want to make changes in the law that was pushed quickly through the leg- islature. Gov. Robert Bentley, who signed the law, said he's contact- ing foreign executives to tell them they and their companies are still welcome in Alabama. "We are not anti-foreign com- panies. We are very pro-foreign companies," he said. CHICAGO Blagojevich to appeal 14-year prison sentence Rod Blagojevich has one last, slim hope to reduce his tough 14-year sentence: an appeal. Experts say lawyers for the impeached Illinois governor face long odds in chipping away at the time he'll serve for attempting to auction off President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and other crimes. Lance Northcutt, an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School, says they must convince a higher court that trial Judge James Zagel made serious errors at trial and in calculating a sen- tence. But he says the veteran judge has a reputation for care- fully avoiding such mistakes that could overturn his decisions. KINSHASA, Congo Congo election results delayed until today The head of Congo's election commission said results from the presidential race that were due to be published yesterday have been postponed until today. Daniel Ngoy Mulunda said the commission is in the process of checking each figure against tally sheets from polling stations in the remote corners of this enormous nation. Mulunda said: "We are before a very demanding public." He . added: "We want to double- check each number, each tally sheet." Congo has been tense for days as its people await the outcome of last week's disputed election, with partial results making vic- tory all but certain for incum- bent President Joseph Kabila. -Compiled from Daily wire reports REAL RELAXATION LSA freshman Alexander Addiego participates in MRC Keep Calm yesterday in Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall. The event was put on by Counseling and Psychological Services to help students relax during finals. BENEFITS From Page 1 want the best and brightest, that we want to open our doors to people from around the world." In an interview yesterday afternoon, state Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) said the bills would put the state at an "economic disadvantage" by making it unattractive to some employees. At the time of the interview, Warren had notheard ofthe bills' passinginthe Housebutthought the clause meant that employees of public universities would be exempt from the prohibitions. "It sends the message that Michigan does not have the doors wide open for every kind of family," Warren said. "And ... given the place that Michigan is in right now and our struggle to rebuild our economy, I think we need to have our arms and doors open for all kinds of talent, and we can't afford to be shutting anybody out." Warren said she thought the bills would have the opposite effect of what its Republican pro- ponents in the Legislature had hoped - reducing state expendi- tures. "If you look at that situation and say, 'OK, we're not going to allow public employers to give benefits to people who have part- ners,' those people are not going to come here, and they're not going to stay here," Warren said. "So it actually increases costs." University officials and profes- sors have also criticized the bills for risking the school's abilities to recruit and retain top talent. Several University professors said last month that they would consider leaving the University if Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed the bills into law. UniversityPresident MarySue Coleman and University Provost Phil Hanlon sent a letter to state Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) last month urging him not to pass the bills. Hanlon and Coleman wrote in the letter that the bills rely on little evidence that eliminating the benefits would reduce costs, and the legislation would impede the University's ability to attract faculty. "Fortune 500 companies nationwide and in the state of Michigan offer partner benefits: It is simply good business that produces an excellent return on investment," Coleman and Han- lon wrote in the letter. Cynthia Wilbanks, the Uni- versity's vice president for gov- ernment relations, wrote in an e-mail interview yesterday that while she was not sure whether the University would be exempt from the policy, she was still wor- ried about the impact of the bills. "There seems to be some dif- ference of opinion about whether the approved legislation applies directly to state universities," Wilbanks wrote. "That remains a serious concern." Like Coleman and Hanlon, Wilbanks added that the pos- sibility worried her because the bills could threaten the Univer- sity's ability to attract and keep its employees. "We continue to believe and will advocate that these benefits are a critical component - for all public and privateemployers - to retaining and attractingthe very best talent that is so important to the continued economic recovery in the state of Michigan," Wil- banks wrote. Republicans in the state Sen- ate and House have argued that the provision of costs for domes- tic partners constituted an unfair burden on state taxpayers. Ari Adler, press secretary for Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Mar- shall) - a proponent of the bills - said Michigan taxpayers could not afford to fund the benefits for public employees' partners. Adler said Bolger voted for the bills in the House because state voters passed an amend- ment to the state constitution that banned the state from rec- ognizing any union other than traditional marriage. He said public interests and curbing government spending are more important than the possible repercussions of passingthe bills. "We had to be primarily con- cerned about protecting taxpay- ers in terms of spending, and we had to protect voters in what they requested by changing the constitution," Adler said. "Pro- tecting taxpayers by reining in government spending and pro- tecting the constitution trumps other concerns." Similarly, state Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) said he voted for the two bills because he said limiting state spending and hon- oring voters' wishes were para- mount. Jones added that he did not think the passing of the bill would produce asignificant effect on the state's economy since other advantages, like the availability of affordable housing in the state, would outweighthem. "If somebody's going to leave simply because of this, there's plenty of other people looking for work," Jones said. The bills passed by the House yesterday, like those it passed in September, still refer to employ- ees of government at all levels as public employees, which means the prohibitions would apply to House representatives as well. Members of Ann Arbor's city government have protested the bills. Last month, City Council member Sandi Smith (D-Ward 1) passed a resolution opposing the bills. Mayor John Hieftje said he opposes the bills, and the effect could ultimately lead to a "brain drain," or the mass exodus of stu- dents from the state. In the past, he said, Ann Arbor's offering of benefits to employees' families has aided the city government in attracting top administrators and politicians. However, Hieftje said the new bills would make it "difficult" for the city's economy and govern- ment. "Michigan needs people to' come here," Hieftje said. "We need entrepreneurs who choose to work here to help us turn our economy around. And by say- ing to a whole group of people, 'We really don't want you here," which is what these laws say - that's a problem. It's going to work against economic recov- ery." BUSINESS From Page 1 reality. "There are some that use this to really develop that business that they absolutely do intend to launch, often upon graduation," Perigo said. Business School graduate student P.K. Mishra, who is part of the @Fingertips team, said the biggest benefit of the MBC is that the teams experience all the challenges in making a business plan and the substan- tial amount of money the win- ner receives is enough to start a company. "It's, for me, the most enrich- ing experience of being in the Business School," he said. "To take an idea and launch a busi- ness out of it, it takes a lot more than just developing the tech- nology." Business School senior David Spiro's team, Thru. im, also made it to the second round and is in the process of creating a plan to develop a mobile and web application that allows consumers to text businesses about food orders and reservations. Spiro said his team participated in MBC last year but didn't make it past the first round because this group members only focused on the technology aspect. This year, however, they learned how to create a business around that technology. "We're looking to build a better business more than any- thing," Spiro said. "While we understand that there's great cash prizes ... we're really most concerned with the long-term effect that MBC can have on us as entrepreneurs and us start- ing this business." Perigo said MBC is different than other programs across the country in that it lasts several months and has four rounds rather than just one week with a single round. As teams prog- ress through each round, a new panel of judges - often entre- preneurs themselves - evalu- ates the feasibility and market viability of the ventures. In the final round, Perigo said, teams present to three venture capi- talists in a "very realistic con- versation ... that pretty closely replicates what it's like to get that first meeting with a ven- ture capital firm." The expanded timeline also includes seven training semi- nars, which spread over the course of the competition and tutor participants in pitching their ideas, writing business plans and executive summa- ries and presenting to potential investors, Perigo explained. "Really, the goal of Michigan Business Challenge is to ... help students build their entrepre- neurial skill set," Perigo said. Business School graduate student Sean Simpson, whose team, Autobike, has made it to the second round with a proto- type of a bicycle that shiftsgears automatically, said the train- ings have been useful in helping his team members develop the business side of their project. He described the seminars as "a class (MBC is) offeringfor free," noting that his other courses at the Business School don't gen- erally teach entrepreneurship skills. According to Perigo, partici- pants come from different areas of the University, and often, the multidisciplinary teams with students from various colleges and schools such as the Ross School of Business, College of Engineering, School of Infor- mation and School of Art & Design are the most successful. Perigo added that though grad- uate students tend to compete more than undergraduate stu- dents, there is a "nice balance" of students in terms of age and year. Perigo said MBC is always looking to engage more stu- dents in the competition. "We will continue to grow and change to make it what it needs to be (to assist student entrepreneurs)," Perigo said. PLANETARIUM From Page 1 more expansive star field and a mechanical projector instead of a digital projector. "(The Zeiss Skymaster) is optimized and set up to do one thing only and that is to show the stars," Seitzer said. "(A digi- tal projector) can do all sorts of fancy things, but it has a lower resolution and less dynamic range so it's really not optimized for showing the stars." Another notable part of the planetarium is its capability to show the effects of city lights on the night sky. This is done through a system in which red lights around the periphery of the planetarium imitate Ann Arbor city lights. Viewers can see the projections once their eyes adapt to the dark, which usually takes about 15 minutes. Rackham student Shannon Schmoll teaches an astronomy mini-course called Naked Eye Astronomy,whichholdsits class- es in the planetarium. On the first day of her course, Schmoll said she shows her students the difference between a light-pol- luted sky and a clear night sky so they appreciate the contrast. "I go straight from (the red lights) to turning off ... all the lights that I can," she said. "I turn off all the classroom lights, I turn off all the computer moni- tors, everything." As the lights disappear and only the night sky remains, the class usually reacts with sur- prise. "There's almost always an audible 'aw' going on with just how many stars you can see," Schmoll said. "There's a wonder there that I think is really impor- tant that the planetarium can bring out." The lights that surround the University are a contributing fac- tor in light pollution that distorts students' perception of the night sky, Seitzer said. "There's more light going up from the University of Michigan than there is coming down from the stars," he said. LSA junior Emma Worm- ser recently completed Schmoll's mini-course this fall. Wormser said she enjoyed having a class in the planetarium and would rec- ommend it to others. "Rather than just using slides, we actually had a point of ref- erence, and we could look at the stars and see exactly what the teacher was talking about," Wormser said. For Schmoll, one ofthe benefits of the Angell Hall Planetarium is its capability to show the night sky clearly at any time of any day. "There's no other place where you can go and sit underneath the stars in the middle of the day and just ogle at the greatness of the universe," Schmoll said. HOUSING From Page 1A Housing staff and the Student Housing Advisory Board in craft- ing the new process. Newman said RHA and University Housing endorse reverse seniority since it gives younger students a better chance of living in a supportive residence hall community. "The RHA assembly started with privileging seniors and then really evolved to the younger students actually have a greater need for the programs, resources and staffing that come with the residential environment," New- man said. RHA President Haley Prasad, an LSA sophomore, said another factor RHA took into consider- ation before passing the resolu- tion for reverse seniority housing was that it is easier for upper classmen to find off-campus housing. "With the way Ann Arbor leasing signings work, you have to kind of have something fig- ured out by November and a lot of freshmen don't feel prepared to make those kinds of decisions at that time," Prasad said. "We think that students, as they are older ... are probably more famil- iar with the way housing in Ann Arbor works." While University Housing will not provide students with alternate housing if they are not granted a spot in a residence hall, Newman said students who look for leases in the winter are typically able to find off-campus housing. Prasad said she hopes the new process doesn't deter students from applying to live in the resi- dence halls out of fear they may not be granted a spot. She added, however, that fear existed for students even with the former seniority sign-up process. "For sophomores, there always was that fear in previous years ... about what if you don't get the dorm of your choice," Prasad said. "It's just that the fear is placed on a different group of students (now)." After hearing about the new sign-up procedure, LSA sopho- more Killian Rohn started a peti- tion to convince RHA to remove their resolution supporting reverse seniority sign-up. Rohn said she thinks the new process will push juniors and seniors out of residence halls. "I think it's a social justice issue that (University Hous- ing is) basically telling juniors and seniors, we don't want you," Rohnsaid. "...I thinkiftheywere to keep it this way, I think the trend would become we expect freshmen and sophomores to live in the dorms, and we don't want juniors and seniors." Rohn added that there is only a slight possibility that there would be a shortage of beds since a low percentage of juniors and seniors typically return to the residence halls. She said only 16 percent of upperclassmen lived on campus this year. "Why is someone who's paid multiple terms of housing and tuition ... would say, 'I want to stay because I might not get the room that I want or might not get the dorm that I want?"' Rohn' said. Rohn and four other students attended RHA's assembly meet- ing last night and voiced their concerns about the new sign-up process during Resident's Time - a portion of the meeting in which 10 residents have two min- utes each to speak. The assembly consists of representatives from each residence hall on campus. At the meeting, Rohn suggest- ed RHA should solve the issue of a potential lack of housing by "increasing density by turning spacious doubles into triples" instead of implementing reverse seniority sign-up. Engineering sophomore Jeff Cwagenberg also spoke during- Resident's Time and said he is concerned about why under- classmen could choose to stay in Housing since they now have first priority of rooms. "Why does Housing want to keep these freshmen who may not have an interest in the com- munity, (who are) deciding to stay in based on the place they are living?" Cwagenberg said. "This forces out juniors and seniors that have invested inter- est in the community." SALVATION ARMY From Page 1 up to $199. Some of the high- er-grossing locations include Busch's on Main Street, which averages $422 per day, and out-, side Macy's at Briarwood Mall, which collects $571 on an aver- age day. Williams said the char- ity has raised $14,000 less than this time last year, which is problematic because fundrais- ing during the holiday season accounts for 75 percent of the Salvation Army's yearly budget. "It's very important that we raise our money," Williams said. The donations are used to support the charity's programs for youth and adults and pro- vide goods for the Salvation Army's food pantry and shelter. "Whatever the need is, if we can provide it (to our clients), we will," Williams said. "But without (the money), we may have to cut those services ... that's how drastic it is." Despite the lack of general volunteers this season, some University students are still trying to do their part. Alpha Phi Omega, a community ser- vice fraternity at the University, raised $171 for the Salvation Army last month, an amount Williams said is "not too shab- by." LSA senior Spencer Shepard, who was in charge of organiz- ing the project for APO, wrote in an e-mail interview that the fundraiser was very successful. "It's a very important fund- raiser for them, and we're all glad we have the opportunity to help out, as the Salvation Army does a lot of good for our com- munity," Spencer wrote.