CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Michigan's seniors celebrated the
program being "back" and a 10-2
season at the football banquet.
aPAGE 7
MARCHING FORWARD
Three Michigan Marching Band
members move on to musical careers.
UbeHU Ek1anF E Iaijj
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
michigandaily.com
MANUFACTURING INNOVATION
REGENTS PREVIEW
Regents
to vote on
start-up
initiative
or a story onthe regional AUSTEN HUFiORD/Daily
meeingyesterdayvisit he Speakers at a meeting of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership at the North Campus Research Complex yester-
michigandaily.com/blogs/The Wire , ire day. The partnership established by President Barack Obama is co-led by University President Mary Sue Coleman.
LOCAL BUSINESSES
Library lot construction still
underway, hurtn businesses
Three construction
projects totaling
$88.3 million
up for review
By PAIGE PEARCY
Daily StaffReporter
At the University's Board of
Regents final meeting of 2011 on
Thursday, members will vote on
the proposed
Michigan NOTEBOOK
Investment in
New Technology Startups initia-
tive.
The MINTS program, which
was announced by University
President Mary Sue Coleman in
an address in October, will make
long-term investments of up to
$500,000 in start-ups created by
University faculty members as a
means of diversifying the Uni-
versity's long term investments.
The funding will be available
to any start-up that fulfills the
requirements.
"This way, again, we're not
picking winners and losers at all,"
Coleman said in October. "What
we're doing is simply saying to
the faculty start-up, '(If) you get
money from a venture capital
firm, we will automatically invest
up to $500,000.' We'll scale it
depending on what they get from
the venture capital firm."
Timothy Slottow, the Uni-
versity's executive vice presi-
dent and chief financial officer,
wrote in a communication to the
regents that MINTS is estimated
to require a $25 million invest-
ment by the University over the
next 10 years, will come from the
endowment, which is currently
worth $7.8 billion.
When Coleman announced
the initiative, she said the pro-
gram offers more variation in the
University's investment portfo-
lio.
"Now I want to be clear: This
is not a new expense on the part
of the University," Coleman
said at the time. "Rather, we are
diversifying our assets."
REGENTS TO CONSIDER
$88 MILLION IN NEW
CONSTRUCTION
The regents will also vote on
three new construction projects
totaling $88.3 million.
The projects include a 62,500
square-foot addition to the
See REGENTS, Page 2
Project scheduled locating the restaurant since it's
currently hidden behind cement
to be finished trucks and orange construction
barrels.
by end of spring The con-
struction is part Q ' O
By CHELSEA LANDRY of a project to
Daily StaffReporter build an under-
ground parking 6-
Jerusalem Garden, a small garage located e
Mediterranean restaurant, has at South Fifth
been an Ann Arbor mainstay and East Liberty Streets, right
since 1987. But even Ann Arbor next to Jerusalem Garden. The
residents may have a hard time project started in September
2009, and the construction com-
pany estimated it will be com-
plete by the end of the spring.
Ali Ramlawi, the owner of
Jerusalem Garden since 1993,
said he is upset with the slow
and prolonged construction
process.
"It's been going on for longer
than any other project Ican con-
ceive of," Ramlawi said. "The
problem is the duration."
Some of the problems Jerusa-
lem Garden is facing are a lack
of lighting and signage, lack of
parking, limited accessibility
for pedestrians and difficulty
receiving deliveries.
Ramlawi added that in fiscal
quarters since the beginning
of construction, his restaurant
has experienced up to a 20-per-
cent loss in business, which has
made the restaurant difficult
to sustain. Ramlawi expressed
his frustration with the Ann
Arbor Downtown Development
See CONSTRUCTION, Page 2
UNIVERSITY FACULTY
Slottow: Rising
debt not an issue
'THE SOUND OF SILENCE'
'U' debt expected to
climb to $2.2B
in next five years
By MARY HANNAHAN
Daily StaffReporter
Tim Slottow, the University's
executive vice president and
chief financial officer, spoke
about the state of the Univer-
sity's financial health at the Sen-
ate Assembly meeting yesterday.
to At the end of fiscal year 2011,
the University had about $15
billion in assets across all three
campuses and the University
of Michigan Health System,
according to Slottow. Howev-
er, the University's $7.8 billion
endowment, a restricted fund
used to support the University's
operations, is not included in
this figure, he said.
The University currently has a
debt of about $1.8 billion, which
is expected to climb to $2.2 bil-
lion over the next five years.
However, Slottow said this is not
a problem for the University in
relation to its assets.
"The relationship of the total
assets to the total liabilities is
quite healthy," he said. "The
relationship of notes and bonds
to financial assets is also quite
healthy. So from a strictly ratio
standpoint, the University is in
good shape."
According to Slottow, the Uni-
versity has about $1.5 billion of
liquid assets, or money needed
in order to pay faculty and staff
salaries, which is sufficient
to provide a cushion for daily
expenses. The University tries to
keep expenses low, however, in
order to invest the University's
money elsewhere and accrue
profit.
"A sophisticated financial
group in the treasurer's office
wants to have as little liquid as
possible in order to invest the
rest in something that actually
has some return on our financial
assets," Slottow said. "We aren't
overly aggressive. I also would
say we're not overly conserva-
tive."
Engineering and Radiol-
ogy Prof. Kimberlee Kearfott,
vice chair of the Senate Advi-
sory Committee on University
Affairs, asked Slottow when the
administration will start invest-
ing endowment money in faculty
start-ups.
Slottow said University Presi-
See SLOTTOW, Page 3
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
Study:
Grad. rate
higher for
women
Researchers find
higher graduation
rate for high-
income students
By HALEY GLATTHORN
Daily StaffReporter
For a typical college stu-
dent, the odds of sitting next
to an affluent female in class
are greater today than ever
before.
University researchers
recently released a study
indicating that students from
high-income families in the
United States are graduating
from college at an increas-
ingly greater rate than stu-
dents from low-income
families. The study by Eco-
nomics Assistant Prof. Mar-
tha Bailey and Public Policy
Associate Prof. Susan Dynar-
ski also demonstrates that
See STUDY, Page 3
LSA sophomore John Tepper finds a quiet place to study in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library yesterday.
COLLEGE gF ENGINEERrIN Ge
Engineers create holiday greetings website
Global Holiday
Greeting Project
allows users
to tag locations
By PETER SHAHEEN
Daily StaffReporter
In today's technology driven
era, traditional Christmas cards
may not be hip enough for the
Facebook generation.
Last month, the College
of Engineering launched the
"Global Holiday Greeting Proj-
ect," a website that allows Engi-
neering students and alumni to
share holiday messages, greet-
ings and memories. The site
uses a Google Map of Earth that
enables users to tag their cur-
rent location or the site of a spe-
cific memory, which is indicated
on the map by Michigan's iconic
block 'M.'
Dan Kim, executive--direc-
tor of the Office of Communi-
cations and Marketing for the
College of Engineering, said the
goal of the website was to find
an innovative way to share holi-
day greetings among the Uni-
versity's "Engineering family."
The website also demonstrates
to students and alumni that the
See ENGINEERS, Page 3
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